Mastodon Masticates Metaphors

Twitter users have been migrating (as birds will do) to a new gossip platform: Mastodon. Mastodon is a distributed network of servers, each of which hosts content of interest to its users.? So how has the distributed server approach gone over and been communicated? And does the free platform have room for improvement?

One Economist Magazine writer and podcaster announced that as a Twitter user, she had joined Mastodon. Then she noted she didn't find it very easy to use, then promptly abandoned the platform. Who knows, maybe she'll have another go at it.?

A Bit Complicated

Content platforms on Mastodon include Social, Tech, US Politics, and more. Each server has an owner, whose job it is to moderate the content for hate speech and other content the users of the servers may find offensive.

And while the users of one server may search up users on other servers, the offending content may also follow from one server to another (or just be introduced into another server). Hosts, who are not paid, have their work cut out for them.

While the servers are free, some do ask for donations, much like Wikipedia does. Which makes sense, as they have to pay the bills for infrastructure and upkeep somehow. However, Mastodon, which I suppose started out as a geeky sort of experiment, has created an unnecessary barrier to entry and adoption of the platform: its terminology.?

Watch Your Words

One new user (who also has a Twitter account) noted an explanation from Mastodon about how to use the distributed platform with a message:

The directions scream several things:

• We're geeks and we're proud of it!
• We have ring-fenced Mastodon from the tech-illiterate masses
• We don't care what you think because our lives are so hard so why should we make it easy for you?

Nevertheless, the distributed platform is picking up the masses (including journalists) who are fleeing Twitter in droves. Zoe Klein, Tech Writer at the BBC, writes that after Elon Musk officially took over control of Twitter, Mastodon claimed it had over 655,000 users — with over 230,00 joining the week after the take-over.?

Of course, that's a drop in the bucket compared to the number of users on Twitter (of which I am one — @wimdodson).? Twitter has 206 million daily active users and 38 million users in the United States, according to news source Business of Apps.

Simplify Simplify Simplify

Media accounts portray Mastodon server owners as surprised as the media itself that it has become the Zoom of 2022. In the same way the video conferencing platform benefited by leaps and bounds in the growth of traffic to its platform because of? the pandemic Lockdown of 2020-21, Mastodon has garnered a great deal of attention as Elon Musk eviscerates Twitter. In early November 2022, it cleaved its staff in half, firing about 3,700 staff. Whether half a Twitter is better than no Twitter at all remains to be seen. Meanwhile, Mastodon needs to grow up.

I'm not just talking about "scaling up" its technological infrastructure, but in making the language with which it introduces new users to the platform more accessible. There's some excellent reasons for writing clearly and simply.

Accessibility makes tech more hospitable — if something is presented simply, it becomes more inviting. It's one of the reasons lawyers exist: the law is so awfully opaque; and lawyers love the lack of transparency. Mere mortals do not. So write so us regular folks can follow what you're saying, nodding our heads along the way.

Accessibility reduces support costs — If current or prospective customers feel unsupported, they leave services. It's bad enough that humans no longer pick up the phone to help others in need; it's an insult to injury when instructions are purposely convoluted. Do yourself a favor and keep support costs low through clear writing.?

Accessibility reduces marketing costs (it sells itself) — A lot of the marketing for tech comes through inbound activity to online sites. The key to keeping costs low is through well-written content. Write in a transparent, engaging manner and THEY will come.

What are some of your experiences as you spread your wings beyond Twitter to platforms like Mastodon?

William R. Dodson is a technology writer and Publisher at?SkepticalRobotStudios.com. He writes about tomorrow's technology today.

He is also an author. His latest book,?Virtually International?(Emerald Publishing Group, 2021), is about remote technology and international business.

Read bonus articles from the?bi-weekly?edition of?The Digital Luddite?on?Substack.com. He can be reached at?[email protected].

His views are his own and do not reflect those of any of the organizations for which he works.